Considerable effort has been directed over the past several years at reducing the trauma associated with certain surgical procedures and the recuperation times of patients on whom such surgeries are performed. Among these are, for example, knee replacement, knee reconstruction, shoulder reconstruction, and so on. In some cases, these patients are accident victims. In others, they simply suffer deterioration of the joint being reconstructed or replaced. In any case, more and more of these surgeries are being performed under local, rather than general, anesthetic. The local anesthetic then continues to be administered during the recuperation of the patient for pain management purposes.
There are several benefits associated with such a strategy. For example, the local anesthetics typically used in these cases also have antiseptic attributes owing to their maintenance of pHs in the surgical field that inhibit or retard bacterial growth.
Further, the morbidity/mortality complications associated with administration of general anesthetics are generally avoided by use of local anesthetics in these settings. The locally anesthetized patient typically remains conscious throughout the surgery.
Use of a general anesthetic requires the patient first to regain consciousness. Recovery can be promoted in orthopedic surgical cases, for example, by encouraging the patient to begin exercising the affected joint sooner after completion of the surgery, rather than later. Typically, the locally anesthetized patient can begin exercising the affected joint much sooner after completion of surgery.